WILLIAM HUNG "INSPIRATION" (Koch)

April 10, 2004|By James Doolittle, Special to The Morning Call -- Freelance

POP It should come as a surprise to no one that in his rush to capitalize on his "American Idol"-provided 15 minutes of fame, William Hung has produced one of the worst albums ever made. As befits an icon of mediocrity, "Inspiration" is awful. The audio-only portion of the disc robs Hung's admirers of perhaps their greatest joy -- watching this gawky manchild writhing about with not an iota of self-respect as he strips each and every song of its inherent rhythms. Oddly, even the accompanying DVD is a dud, with a lot of backstage musings that seem only to strip away Hung's mythical stature by making him look more awkward off stage than on. For the moment, "Inspiration" succeeds only in adding value to the Ricky Martin catalog. But tell you what -- if this guy tours, I'm so there.